Improvement in drawer-fastenings



UNITED STATES;

PATENT OFFICE'.

JAMES SERRILL, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

IM PROVENI ENT IN DRAWER-FASTENINGS.

Specification forming part of'Letters Patent No.. 51,625, dated December19, 1865.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JAMES SERRILL, of the city of Philadelphia, in theState of Pennsyl- Vania, have invented a new and useful Improvement inthe Mode ot' Fastening Till- Drawers; and I do hereby declare that thefollowing is afull, clear, and exact description of the construction andoperation of the same, reference being had to theaccompanyin g drawings,making a part of this specification, in which- Figure 1 is a verticallongitudinal central section of a till-drawer having my said improvementapplied thereto, and Fig. 2 a vertical transverse section ot' the sameon the dotted line x y of Fig. 1.

Like letters of reference indicate the same parts when in both igures.

It is generally im portantto retailers in stores and shops to have somesimple and inexpensive device applied to their till or money drawers,whereby it will be difficult or impossible for a thief to rob it byreaching over the counter for the purpose, and at the same time soreadily operated as to enable the owner by applying his finger torelease it in a moment from the inner side of the counter; and such adevice is the object of my invention.

It consists in the application to a till-drawer of a supplementaldrawer, a catch-sprin g, and a drop-pin constructed so as to operatetogether, substantially as hereinafter described aud set forth.

In the drawings, A B is the usual till-drawer; C D, the supplementaldrawer; E, the catchspring, and F the drop-pin.

The drawer A B is constructed and applied to slide in contact with theunder side of a counter, G, in the usual manner, excepting that it ismade to have au open back.

The supplemental drawer C D iits within the drawer A B, so that it willslide accurately backward and forward therein when the said drawer A Bis moved outward and in ward alternately, the drawer C D being held fastto the counter by the catch-spring E.

The catch-spring E is a thin strip of springsteel, bent as representedin Fig. 1, and attached, by screws or otherwise, to a cross-piece ofwood, H, which is fixed to the counter Gr, and projects forward in adownward direction, as seen in the same gure, and opposite to thisspring E a hole, e, is made through the back of the supplementary drawerC D, and a thin plate of iron, e2, iixed at its upper boundary at such aheight as will cause it to press down the spring E as the drawer isbeing closed, slide over it, and catch behind its inclined notch orcatch, and thus hold the supplemental drawer sufficiently ixed to allowthe till-drawer A B to slide along it.

The drop-pin F- is made to slide vertically and freely iu a small holemadein the bottom of drawer A B. It has a shoulder, which prevents itfrom falling out, and a head, whereby it can be raised upward by onesfinger, and its length above its shoulder is such as will just allow thedrawer G D to slide freely over it when the pin is down or resting uponits shoulder, and from the shoulder to the head of such alength as willpermit it to be pushed upward, so as to enter a small hole in the bottomof the drawer C D when it is desired that the said drawer G D bc pulledout with the drawer A B.

The holes through which the drop-pin works are strengthened each byathin plate of iron, .0 .0-

The head of the drop-pin E is let into one ot'a series of roomyholes,ff, made in a strip, H,which is fastened across the bottomot'drawer A B. The other holes of the series have either fixed or looseheads in them, each shaped like that of the loose pin F, and the lattermay be placed in any one of the holes in making the drawers.

K is a stop fixed across the drawer A B, and L a stop tixed to the underside of the counter G, which keeps the drawer A B from being pulledentirely out.

Operation: When the drawer A B is pulled forward simply by means of theknob I the supplemental drawerU D remains and its front shows as a backto the drawer A B, which of course is empty; but if, before pulling outthe drawer A B, the operator presses the drop-pin F upward, it willenter the hole in the bottom of drawer C D and consequently cause it tobe drawn. out simultaneously with the drawer A B, and so give access toits contents, as represented by the dotted lines `in Fig. 1. By simplypushing the drawer A B back again the drawer G D becomes fastened.

It will be readily seen that, as the drawer O D is the money-holder, athief, not knowing which of the several pins F is the effective one forbringing out the drawer G D, even if he should be able to reach it overthe counter, would fail to rob it, or be baffled in his attempts longenough probably to be caught in the act,

for on his simply pulling out the drawer A Bl by the' knob I he nds itentirely empty.

The device is exceedingly simple and easy of construction, application,and operation, and eft'ectually answers the purpose intended.

Having thus fully described my improved till-fastening, what I claim asnew therein, of

my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

In combination with a till-drawer, the supplemental drawer C D,catch-spring E, and drop-pin F, constructed and arranged so as tooperate together, substantially as and for the purpose described.

JAMES SERRILL. Vitnesses:

BENJ. MoRIsoN, J As. WINsMoRE, JOHN WHITE.

